Mike Leigh Masterclass

This local film forum was granted an hour's Q&A before the preview screening of Mike Leigh's new film, Happy Go Lucky. This struck me as the wrong way round. No introduction was given, and no clips were shown. The handout was presumed to suffice to explain this unconventional filmmaker, whose unscripted projects are 'private and fluid' and developed through rehearsals. The bearded 65 year old eschewed even the classic director look - his short slim frame in baggy military khaki and a navy body warmer, his animate mellifluous tones with a hint of North West answering questions like an eminent court witness, confidently twisting questions and telling the enquirer what they really meant.

Most interesting and impudent was the penultimate question, asked by someone who told me that the empty seat next to her was taken my an imaginary frog, which she kindly removed for me! Undressed, her question for Mike said: 'I admired you as a working class Mancunian but now I discover you're a doctor's son and RADA trained.' Leigh tried to say undefensively that there was nothing bourgeois about his background, professional training, and that his right to observe all kinds of life remained. A makeup artist asked how to deal with egotistical actors: Mike said he didn't pick those types and she didn't pick, so he couldn't help. His views on funding were similar - 'you get the dosh or you don't'. Mike's style is so unusual that it may not assist other budding filmmakers in honing their craft, especially as he established himself during the liberal supportive 70's at the BBC. He exhorted us to live our dreams without compromise - but gave us little advice on how.